
A BUDDING Limerick author scooped the runner-up prize in the Specsavers Irish Book Awards short story competition.
14-year-old Aine Markham from Raheen took home the accolade for her short story โSecret Passageโ, and won a collection of popular Irish childrenโs books to boot.
The competition celebrates Specsaversโ sponsorship of the Junior and Senior Irish Childrenโs Book of the Year categories at the An Post Irish Book Awards.
The prompt for this yearโs short story was โI stepped out of the front door clutching my new binoculars. My mum said they were magic but didnโt tell me what they could doโฆโ.